Bird Identification: CLOSED: ID all-black duck that swims completely underwater (IL), 1 by seaver

seaver wrote:
We have a lake near us in Vernon Hills IL. Northern IL. There are very few of these birds that seem to travel alone and stay near the middle of the lake where my camera cannot get a good shot of them. They are all black (even a black bill) and have a large wingspan when they fly. They land and take off from the water. They also dive underwater from the surface and swim for 20-60 feet before emerging somewhere else. I've looked under the dabbling and diving duck families and cannot seem to find out what this is. Sorry about the blurry pic! I could swear this duck is even blurry if I were to ever see it up close! :)

ps: I realize this may be the worst picture ever to possibly id the bird.

This message was edited Aug 1, 2009 10:05 AM

This message was edited Aug 1, 2009 10:18 AM